Mercury entered Aries on April 11 after over two months in Pisces.  Mercury is the messenger of the Gods.  He distributes information.  In ancient times the messenger would transmit news from the powers that be.  The messenger was valued for his speed and accurate transmission of the facts in order for the directives of the king, or whoever had the power, to be received and followed.  The messenger would use whatever mode of transportation was at its disposal whether horse, bike, foot or boat.  Swiftness, accuracy and conciseness are highly valued.  Mercury had to be tricky as well in order to stay alive because often he was carrying valuable information that many wanted silenced, so his life was often threatened and death could be staring him in the face at any moment.  Danger was lurking at every corner so Mercury is swift to find shortcuts and don disguises that would hide his identity and fool others.  Often the message was written, but in days before paper and ink the message was often relayed through speech, so a good memory was highly valued to accurately transmit the information. 

The Saturn/Pluto conjunction in January 2020 in tandem with the eclipses set the stage for the next six months to a year in terms of the bigger picture.  Conjunctions always represent the beginning of one way of life and the end of an old way of life.  Conjunctions represent birth as well as death.  Saturn in Capricorn represents the forms and structures of society that have formed our current traditions as we know it.  Pluto represents the death, destruction purging and eventual transformation of those traditions and structures.  We got a big glimpse of what Pluto would do in Capricorn back in 2008 on his Capricorn ingress when we entered a recession.  Now that Saturn in Capricorn has caught up with Pluto we have an intensification of those same issues in an even larger dose in the guise of Covid-19.  Saturn crystallizes and manifests what Pluto has already been transmuting.  The outer planets, Saturn through Pluto in combination, create the larger scale evolutionary and revolutionary powers that carry major ramifications and create new eras in life on planet earth.  The more personal planets, the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter play an important job in triggering dates and playing out the day to day personal details required in dealing with the major themes represented by the outer planets.  

Here’s where trickster Mercury played such an important part in the spread of this pandemic and the hidden enemy kind of attack.    Mercury has played a key role since the beginning of the year in how information of Covid-19 was handed down and deciphered in a tricky way.  Planets are in dignity and debility, depending on what sign they are traveling.  Mercury is in debility in Pisces.  In ancient astrology dignity is all about where a planet has responsibility, strength and power based upon the geometric rulership schematic.   In modern astrology, there is more a tendency to make a psychological assumption that the planet has affinity for a certain sign because the planet and sign have similar qualities. 

Mercury entered its shadow on February 2 and turned retrograde on February 17 in Pisces. This kept us blind and in the dark about how insidious this virus was and how it was incubating, spreading and growing unbeknownst to us at a rapid pace like a hidden enemy we don’t see coming. We foolishly thought it was only on foreign shores. We were blind to the rampant and invisible spread.  It was moving about unseen like a fog or a mist that was hiding what was lurking beneath the haze.  Only when Mercury entered Aquarius did we realize the national magnitude and it suddenly became much clearer how bad things were on our doorstep.  That’s when leaders and the public started to take more serious government, political and global action to deal with social security. We were in the dark essentially for the entire month of February totally blinded and lost at sea floating through an unreal reality.  When Mercury entered its second shadow period on March 10, it passed over the same degrees of Pisces from February.  It became rapidly clear just how vast the unforeseen rate at which the virus was spreading and how much illness there really was. The veil was starting to life a clearer scope was in view, but because Mercury was still in Pisces, the sign of its debility, we were still getting fishy transmissions and an abundant amount of confusing and conflicting information.  The blame game was in full swing as Mercury in Pisces is highly skilled at deflecting responsibility, scapegoating others and speaking with the voice of martyr, victim or saint and sinner.  So while we were moving forward as Mercury slowly moved forward there were still contrary reports from so many officials in the government and medical community.  We didn’t know who to believe and in some cases there were out and out lies, deceptions and mistruths. There were amazing amounts of snags in transportation matters and it was difficult to know who was in charge and whose directives to follow. 

With Mercury having entered Aries on April 12th we have speed and clarity on our side to aid in getting more rapid testing, accuracy and honest transparency.  Mercury has neither dignity nor debility in Aries.  It has a more neutral strength in this sign.  Fortunately Aries is a sign that likes to do battle and is known for quick, decisive, forthright and clear action.  We now should be getting the news quickly, rapidly and have clearer directives.  Transportation snags and misinformation should start to straighten out and at least there will be a clearer road to follow into the future. 

This is only the beginning and there is so much astrology to discuss for the remainder of 2020 but that’s for several more postings in the near future. 

Retrograde Mercury has recently made its conjunction with the Sun.  This energy is marvelous for empathic thinking, listening, communication and conversation.  If you're in a positive position in life, and others are not, then this energy can help you lend a compassionate ear or word.  Mercury also sextiles Mars in Capricorn which presents a great opportunity to be assertive and push words and thoughts for optimum force and effect.  If you use your hands for creative work such as painting, playing a musical instrument, sculpting and healing then take advantage of the intuitive power and assertion of the power available right now.  

Because the Aries Moon squares Mars today there could be an over emphasis on emoting in angrier and confrontational ways for those who are extremely frustrated, yet Mars loves the sign of Capricorn and Aries so this square has the capability of great power and accomplishment.  It's a good day to be forceful and assertive and communicate in ways that don't turn people off.  

A brief word about the coronavirus.  Obviously I'm not a doctor and this is genuinely a very serious situation.  A word of caution:  the news and information is coming down while Mercury is retrograde in the sign of Pisces, the placement of its detriment.  There is much confusion, fog and haze in all this.  We really do not know.  Pisces is a sign that blurs the boundaries, inflates and over sensitizes.  Do not expect to get logical facts or answers right now.  We really have to wait until Mercury turns direct after March 10 and even more when the planet of logical communication enters Aries on April 12.  

Mercury has entered its shadow in preparation for its retrograde station which formerly takes place on February 16.  In the time period leading up to that date you will start to get acquainted with any challenges that will come to fruition on and during the retrograde and will need to be addressed and/or fixed at that time.  Pay careful attention during the next two weeks as mechanical devices may start to act funny, or you start having more interesting types of miscommunications with certain people that will be formerly addressed after the 16th.  Stuff like that.  For instance, I’m having a hunch (Mercury is in Pisces after all) that a friend of mine is dissatisfied with me about something and neither of us has said anything.  I’m ruminating on it because perhaps I may be a bit paranoid.  If there is something to my intuition most likely on the retrograde is when it will come to light and be addressed. 

Mercury is in Pisces for quite a long time; from now until April 11 (with a brief retro back into Aquarius from March 5 – March 16).  Pisces is the sign of Mercury’s detriment so it has to work harder here to be understood.  Mercury likes facts, details, logic and precision and Pisces is a sign antithetical to those principles as its style is dealing with things through the imagination, fantasy, poetry, intuition, and more non-verbal ways of communicating.  This retrograde can be twice as confusing in the sign of Pisces and much information can be left out, forgotten, erased and at its worst consciously manipulated through lies and obfuscation.  This will be a horrible retrograde for getting the truth about something unless of course you’re a writer, poet, sculptor, artist, musician, shaman, guru, healer and help people understand the truth through illusions and ethereal types of techniques.  This retrograde will be great for re-examining the emotional past. 
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You would be wise to get as much practical stuff done before the formal retrograde on February 16th.  Place your orders on line now for tickets and purchases of any kind.